Legislation filed to ban taxpayer funds for elective abortions

10/12/2017

Legislation has been introduced in the Senate and the House (Senate Bill 2241 and House Bill 4114) that would roll back key provisions of the controversial House Bill 40, a measure recently signed into law that allows tax dollars to fund abortions for any reason, including elective procedures.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act was drafted using the federal Hyde Amendment as its model, which prevents federal funding for abortions, other than abortions sought in connection with pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or that threaten the life of the mother. Federal law already requires states provide Medicaid-financed abortions in these situations; the recently-introduced legislation would roll back state law to mirror Federal law.

Proponents of the new legislation also point out that while the federal government typically matches a state’s Medicaid expenses, it will not do so for elective abortions. It’s estimated that under House Bill 40, taxpayers could pay millions of dollars to finance elective abortion procedures through the Medicaid program.